St. Endelienta was
one of the many daughters of King & Saint Brychan
of Brycheiniog. She may be identical to his daughter called Cynheiddon or
Cenheidlon in
Welsh records. This latter lady lived at Llangynheiddon in the parish of
Llandyfaelog near Cydweli (Kidwelly). From South Wales, Endelienta crossed the Bristol Channel to join
her siblings in evangelising North Cornwall. Endelienta probably landed
first on Lundy Island, where she founded a small chapel (later mistakenly
rededicated to St. Helen), before moving on to stay with her brother, St.
Nectan, at Hartland. She chose to settle at a place called
Trenteny, just south-west of St. Endellion, but still used Lundy as a
retreat for meditation. Up until the 16th century, a chapel dedicated to
her survived at Trenteny and it was in an adjoining hermitage that she
lived a very austere life, with only a cow for company and its milk and
the water from her two wells for sustenance. Her sister, St. Dilic, did,
however, come to live at nearby St. Illich and the two would often meet
along a certain path whose grass would ever afterwards grow greener than
elsewhere.

St. Endelienta’s
unfortunate cow was eventually killed by the Lord of Trenteny when it
strayed onto his land. Word of this injustice soon reached the ears of
Endelienta’s godfather, King Arthur, and he immediately sent his men to
exact revenge from the reckless lord. Trenteny was killed, but Endelienta was not altogether pleased that a man should be murdered in her
name and she miraculously restored him to life.

Years later, St. Endelienta
had a vision of her impending death. So she called her friends together and instructed them in her last
wishes. She asked that, after her death, her body be lain on a cart, yoked
to two unguided bullocks and that they be left to take her wherever they
liked. St. Endelienta died, apparently martyred - perhaps by Saxon pirates
- on 29th April, sometime in the mid-6th
century. The young beasts were set to work as she had instructed and they
brought her body to rest amid a quagmire on the top of a nearby hill.
There, she was buried and a fine church built over her grave, where the
church of St. Endellion now stands.

St. Endelienta’s
shrine was a draw to pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages but, like all
others in England, was destroyed during the Reformation. However, its base
has survived and can still be seen in St. Endellion Church.